Sarcophagum – The Grand Arc of Madness (Review)

Sarcophagum - The Grand Arc of MadnessThis is the debut album from Australian death metallers Sarcophagum.

Essentially a side band of the gloriously nasty Golgothan Remains, (three out of four members have links to the band), Sarcophagum also boast the talents of the drummer of the mighty Ashen Horde, (also current/ex-member of Blade of Horus, Decrepid, Evilyn, Norse, Somnium Nox, Virulent Depravity, and more). Suffice to say, I knew I had to check this out. Continue reading “Sarcophagum – The Grand Arc of Madness (Review)”

Blade of Horus – Monumental Massacre (Review)

Blade of HorusBlade of Horus are an Australian Death Metal band and this is their début EP.

Now I don’t know about you, but with a name like Blade of Horus and furnished with the kind of exotic album cover that Monumental Massacre has, I have certain expectations of the band before I even hear a note.

At 22 minutes in length, this is a decent intro to the band and definitely leaves me wanting to hear more in the future.

Growls, shrieks and pig-squeals are the order of business for their vocalist, with the band sounding like they’re whipping him to ever greater heights of fury and devotion with every beat of the drum and pluck of the string.

The band combine brutality and technicality with some minor Deathcore influences to produce short and succinct tracks that go straight for the throat, yet also have enough about them to take the time to consider alternative ways of improving their murderous assault.

The songs are brutal enough to absolutely slay, but technical and complex enough to add a certain level of restrained chaos and further depth to the band’s impressive noise. Interesting riffs and ideas are showcased easily, and there’s a fair amount of stuff going on here despite the short length. Huge chugging riffs in the style of Dying Fetus effortlessly share space with complicated guitar-widdling the likes of Nile would be proud of.

Extra impressive is their ability to add in small sections of atmosphere into these crowded tracks, allowing them the space to incorporate melody and mood into the music, to great effect.

All of this helps create the impression of a band who really do have a lot to offer the discerning Metal fan.

So here we have another band who have seemingly come out of nowhere to impressively crush listeners everywhere with their enjoyable take on Extreme Metal.

Expectations met. Expectations exceeded, in fact.